In addition, police say the man in custody is suspected in the burglary of two other outlets in the same shopping center.
39-year-old Timothy A. Hood of Richmond, Virginia is charged with 3 counts of third degree burglary, 3 counts of possession of burglary tools, 3 counts of theft greater than $1,500, disregarding a police officer's signal, second degree conspiracy, criminal impersonation, second degree reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, three counts of criminal mischief, second degree vehicular assault, and numerous other traffic related charges.
Hood was arraigned and committed to Sussex Correctional Institution on $75,000 cash bail.
Police say officers responded to the Coach Outlet in Rehoboth Beach for a burglary alarm at 4:00 a.m. Wednesday.
Once they arrived, they saw a 2007 Mercedes Benz SUV leaving the scene.
Officers tried to pull the SUV over, but the driver hit the gas and started speeding in the northbound lanes of the Coastal Highway.
Then, at the merge with US Route 113, police say the SUV hit a Ford Taurus, causing both vehicles to spin out of control.
The two suspects inside the SUV got out and ran from the scene. Inside the vehicle police found a total of 85 Coach purses, worth about $29,000.
The driver of the Taurus was taken to the hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Then around 11:00 a.m. Wednesday troopers responded to a report of a suspicious person inside the Valero gas station located at 432 Bay Road, Milford. The suspect, later identified as Hood, was carrying a black sweatshirt and wearing grey sweat pants with no shoes when he was taken into custody without incident.
Investigators learned that Hood was also allegedly involved in two other burglaries that occurred in the same Rehoboth Beach shopping center. On August 7th a window was shattered and 60 pairs of sunglasses, valued at approximately $11,600, were taken in a burglary at the Sunglass Hut. Then on August 10th, the window was shattered and 85 purses valued at over $27,000 were removed from the Michael Kors Outlet.
One more suspect remains at large. Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to contact Detective D. Cathell at 302-856-5850 ext. 214 or use the Delaware State Police Mobile Crime Tip Application available to download at: http://www.delaware.gov/apps/.
